Discovery
by LollyLovesAngua
Summary: Horatio has been called to the crime scene of someone who is close to his heart and he discovers that not everything is lost. Time has passed, Lauren is grown up and her parents' killer is intenting on finishing the job. Will she survive? FINAL CHAPTER UP
1. Chapter 1

The sunset shone lazily through the window and was reflected in a tear falling from Horatio Caine's eye. He felt so _useless. _As head of the CSI department at the Miami Dade P.D., tonight had been the first time in five years he had been barred from working a case. It was understandable: any CSI who had a relationship with either victim or suspect was automatically taken off the job to avoid any suspicion when the case went to court. Sitting down on the sofa, he carefully wiped away the tear with the sleeve of his jacket. He was vaguely aware of people around him but he wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying. Tripp had given him strict instructions that he was not to move beyond the yellow tape blocking the back door until Alexx and Calleigh had finished processing and the wait was making him irritable. Finally, Tripp appeared in the doorway and motioned to him to come closer. The detective was sweating slightly in the evening heat and he was avoiding making eye contact with Horatio at all costs as he got up from the sofa and joined him.

"How're you holding up, H?" The tone of his voice suggested he was genuinely concerned for his friend and Horatio could tell he was being very careful about what he said.

"I'm gonna be fine, Frank. Given time." Tripp shifted position and chose to stare at a lamp in the corner of the room for a while.

"It's- it's just- Calleigh's finished processing now. She says that if you wanna go out there yourself, you can but you can't touch a thing. You know that."

"I do know that Frank." There was a pause in which the two of them waited for the other to say something and eventually Frank sighed and stood back to allow Horatio through the door to the back garden.

"I've gotta warn you buddy, it's not pretty out there. Are you sure you wanna see them like that? You could always wait until Alexx has taken them back to the lab and cleaned them up a bit..."

"No." Horatio's face was set and determined. "I have to see this for myself."

It looked like any typical family garden, until you noticed the two dead bodies on the floor. One, a tall dark woman in a bloodstained cream suit had been tied to the fence with twine and beaten until her face was almost unrecognisable with bruises and swelling. Her body hung limply forward with her black, curly hair dragging in the mixture of blood and mud in front of her knees. The second body was flung just a few feet away with one arm outstretched towards the first, as though the man's last action was to try and reach his wife. Horatio couldn't see this man's face, but he didn't need to. Without being told, he would have instantly recognised the mop of flame-red hair (the exact same colour as his) anywhere. _Raymond. _

Horatio's younger brother had always been a liability who had relied on his sibling to get him out of whichever sticky situation he had been in. Many times, Horatio had lent him money to get him out of debt without his wife Yelina's knowledge. He had also become the unofficial chauffeur whenever Ray had had one too many at his local bar but all those troubling memories had been forgotten the moment he heard Tripp's voice on the phone two hours ago.

"_It's your brother, H. He's been murdered."_

Now, as he regarded his brother's lifeless body, he would have given anything to be able to go back in time, to protect him. He wanted to find who had done this to him and why they had felt it so necessary to take Yelina's life at the same time. He had only been told of her death when he arrived at their house, surrounded by uniforms and yellow crime scene tape. Since then, he had been racking his brains, trying to think of anyone who could commit such a crime against the Narcotics detective but the most important question that held his attention now was the whereabouts of their young daughter, Lauren.

As if he was reading his mind, Tripp stepped backward and spoke into his radio, asking for any updates in the search for the couple's seven year old girl. As he waited for a reply, Horatio circled the bodies of his brother and sister-in-law in order to get a better perspective. _Why wasn't she here? Where could my niece possibly be? _He knelt down one knee, removed his sunglasses and began twirling them between his fingers, thinking carefully. _If I were a seven year old girl, where would I hide?_

"Frank?"

"Yeah?"

"Did the first officer on the scene clear both the house and the garden?"

"He'll face hell if he didn't."

"What about the shed?"

Frank looked sideways at the shed in the corner of the garden. It would certainly be a good hiding place for both criminal and girl and he had asked Officer Tomlinson if it had been searched when he thought of it. According to him, it was locked but a look through the window had only showed a small area, filled with garden tools and rotting cardboard boxes. He told this to Horatio who stood up slowly and pocketed his sunglasses before rounding on the shed and tip-toeing to see through the window for himself. It was very cramped inside and the setting sun revealed the tools and boxes Frank had previously mentioned. Boxes big enough for a small child to hide in.

"Frank we need to open this shed NOW!"

"I've got someone looking for the keys..."

Horatio didn't want to wait that long. Not when his own niece, his only remaining family could still be alive inside that shed. He darted back a few yards from the door before sprinting at it and slamming into it with his shoulder. The wood creaked and a few cracks appeared but the door itself was still standing. Gasping with pain from his shoulder, he tried again, this time with his other shoulder but the door still wouldn't open.

"H, stand back, stand back! I can get this down no problem."

Horatio massaged his throbbing shoulder as Tripp took a deep breath before landing a powerful kick on the lock. It splintered under the force and the door finally bent backwards into the shed. A little scream...

"LAUREN!"

Horatio pushed past Tripp into the shed where he lifted the flap of the nearest cardboard box. He could have passed out from the relief as he saw those bloodshot blue eyes staring up at him like orbs in the darkness.

"Lauren... sweetheart it's me. It's Uncle H. They've gone now. They're not going to hurt you."

He held out his hand to the tiny child who gingerly took it and allowed herself to be lifted out of the box and into her loving uncle's arms. Horatio wept silently as he held his precious niece close to him and stroked her hair as she buried her face into his neck. _I'll never let you go. My beloved Lollipop._


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is, chapter 2! Please read+review, it makes me happy! Thanks to Laura and Jeannie for pointing out spelling mistakes and the like, without you I would be paranoid.**

**Disclaimer: (_sighs and takes a deep breath_) I don't own CSI: Miami, any of its characters or anything else to do with it, if I did I would be insanely rich and the following plot would probably be in the show. :) I also don't own the song that is in this fic, it's called Safe By My Side and I borrowed it from a musical we did it school;)**

* * *

Calleigh Duquesne unlocked the passenger side door of her SUV and heaved her silver tool case into the seat. She had just finished processing the Caine's back yard and she was confident that she would be able to track down a suspect with the shoeprints, blood and fibre samples she had collected as evidence. She had only met Ray once, about a year ago in Horatio's office when they had been formally introduced. He appeared to be a pleasant man by the way he shook her hand and complimented her but their paths hadn't crossed since. Until today, obviously. 

She rested for a moment, leaning against the car door and watched a hawk flying high overhead. She felt guilty for not having bothered to get to know him. She knew Horatio had cared about him a great deal but she had heard some fairly ugly rumours going around the lab about Ray's latest undercover assignment. He had been liaising with notorious drug dealers for the past few months, trying to get information about their suppliers and whispers behind Horatio's back suggested his brother had "gone over to the dark side" or rather, become addicted to the crystal meth that was so readily available in his world.

Calleigh was about to turn round and get into the driver's seat when she heard shouts coming from the back yard. Confused, she approached the front door and looked down the hallway to see what was going on. The house, which had been so quiet before was now full of shouts and people running around. Calleigh was forced to stand back as Tripp barged past her relaying instructions into his radio. Following him was Horatio and Calleigh gasped when she saw the young girl that was previously missing in his arms.

"Oh my gosh... You found her? Where was she?"

"Hiding inside a box inside the shed," he replied, "Calleigh I need you to drive us to the hospital."

"Sure, whatever I can do to help. Is she OK?"

"I don't know yet. That's why I'm taking her."

Calleigh paused, holding the door of the SUV open. Cautiously, she asked, "Shouldn't you be taking a squad car there? You could get there much faster than if I'm driving y'all."

Horatio climbed into a backseat and carefully moved Lauren so she was sitting on his lap.

"Just do it Calleigh."

She shrugged and shut the door before walking around the car to reach the driver's side. He was acting strangely, she thought. Okay, he had good reason to, but she still couldn't understand why he wanted her to drive them to the hospital when a squad car would be faster. It didn't make sense, but she knew not to question her boss when he was in this kind of mood.

She was about to put the key in the ignition when she heard Horatio say something but it was too quiet to hear.

"What was that, H?" she asked turning round in her seat. He didn't reply, but Calleigh could see that his lips were still moving. He was clearly saying something to Lauren and Calleigh, not wanting to intrude, turned back and started up the engine. As Calleigh was driving, she noticed that Horatio hadn't been saying anything but he was in fact singing gently to his niece. It was rather embarrassing for Calleigh to hear her boss singing nursery rhymes but it was also... sweet. She never imagined him as a person who was good with kids; she had seen him interrogating too many murderers to think he could be capable of being so tender. Obviously, she thought as she listened to his soft voice, he was.

_Do not fear_

_You are safe by my side_

_Safe from the turmoil and the noise_

_I will guard you_

_And I will provide_

_I will defend your infant joys_

_Rest my young one_

_Close against my side_

_There you will stay_

_There you belong_

_Sleep my dear one_

_Safe inside my arms_

_Soothed by my strength_

_Lulled by my song_

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"Horatio Caine?"

Horatio looked up to see a pretty, young nurse approaching him. She smiled nervously and consulted the chart she was carrying in her hands.

"We have finished Lauren's examination now, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that apart from a few cuts and bruises she is absolutely fine. The sexual assault kit was also negative."

Horatio sagged with relief; it felt like the fear and worry that had held him in its grip for the last hour or so had simply washed away.

"She is well enough to be discharged but we have to wait until the social worker comes to collect her. She should be here in about-" she checked her watch, "Five or ten minutes." She turned to go but Horatio seized her arm, holding her back.

"What do you mean, social worker? She's going to go home with me."

The nurse squirmed and tried to pull her arm out of his grip.

"Please Sir, it's hospital protocol. Any child who has lost their parents or guardians is cared for by child services until appropriate custody can be determined."

"But she's my niece! I'm the only person she has left!" Horatio then noticed that he was causing the nurse pain and released her, apologizing.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Ma'am. Can I- can I go and see her now?"

The nurse nodded, rubbing her arm and led him down the hallway to Lauren's room. She was sat up in bed, staring thoughtfully out of the small window. Her long dark hair was tied back in a thick ponytail and her face was pink from having been washed a few moments previously. Horatio motioned to the nurse that he would like to be left alone and she left, shutting the door behind him with a click. At the noise, Lauren looked up and beamed at the sight of her uncle walking towards her.

"Hi Lauren. How are you sweetheart?"

"I'm fine thank you very much, how are you?" came her response. She said it almost like a parrot would repeat a phrase it has been taught and it sounded to Horatio like the sort of thing his brother would have wanted her to say. Her smile was infectious; he could feel one slowly spreading across his own face.

"I feel better now I know that you're okay." He sat down in a chair beside the bed. He didn't want to ask her the necessary questions, but he didn't want her to tell a complete stranger what had happened either. He decided to go for it and not treat her as though she wouldn't be able to understand. "I need to ask you some questions about what happened."

The young girl chewed nervously on her hair and whispered,

"Am I in trouble?"

"No! Lauren, listen to me," he held her tiny hand in his, "You didn't do anything wrong. It's very important you remember that. It's not your fault."

She nodded her understanding and squeezed his hand tightly.

"Lauren, what were you doing before you went in the shed?"

"I was... playing on my trike. Mommy was pushing me around the yard."

"And then what?"

"Daddy came out. With a man. Two men. They were shouting." She sniffed and continued, her voice shaking slightly. "They hurt Daddy. And they hurt Mommy too. And then one of the men locked me in the shed."

"What did the men look like, Lauren? Were they white or black? Fat or thin? Long hair or short hair? Or no hair?"

"One was really big. He was fat, with no hair. He looked like a troll." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "He smelled funny too."

"What about the other man?

"He was smaller than the first one and he wasn't fat or thin. He was the one who put me in the shed."

At that moment, a short burly woman walked into the room. She had mad, frizzy hair in the middle of which was perched a pair of thick glasses. She put them on in order to get a better look at the two people she had interrupted and announced,

"Lauren Caine?"

Lauren nodded.

"Hello there Miss! My name's Sally I've come to take you to a new home for a while until things are sorted out."

Horatio could feel his indignation rising by the moment. _She was going to take her away._ How could she stand there, smiling, when she knew that she had come to break up a family? Slowly, he rose to his feet and looked her directly in the eye.

"I'm sorry Sally but Lauren's staying with me. I'm her uncle."

"Lieutenant Horatio Caine? Yes, I was informed about you. I'm sure you're aware Lieutenant that it is protocol that she is cared for by child services until a rightful guardian is chosen?"

_Damn protocol._

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Lieutenant I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave, Lauren needs to get changed before we can take her-"

"You're not taking her!" Horatio shouted.

Sally sighed and motioned through the window to a strong-looking man who entered and began to escort Horatio from the room. Lauren whimpered and despite having been so brave just a few minutes ago, she looked as though she was going to cry.

"You can't do this!" Horatio screamed, struggling, "Lauren, I love you!"

He was half pulled, half dragged through the doorway and led quickly down the hall without a chance to look back. All he heard as he left was Sally calling after them,

"Make sure he doesn't come back."


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, here is chapter 3! I didn't start this chapter for a while because for some reason since I started this particular story I have had at least one dream about Horatio Caine every night (that's about three weeks worth). I didn't complain at first but it got annoying so I left it alone for a few days and I wrote this chapter in one night. Sorry if it seems rushed, but I think this may be the only way of dreaming about something else every now and then! That's enough of my waffling, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: Can I just point out, I don't own CSI Miami, if I did my name would probably be Antony Zuiker and I would buy my own island with the money I had made.**

* * *

Speed gave a long, slow, deliberately noisy suck on his milkshake as he stared at the flashing images on the screen. Delko ignored him as always and leaned back in his chair. It could take hours sometimes, to get a hit on a fingerprint in CODIS. And that was if there was a match to be found because most of the fingerprints the team took these days weren't in the system yet and were only useful when a suspect was found using other means of identification. Delko decided silently that he would go and help Calleigh process the evidence taken from the Caine's back yard a few weeks ago. He got up to leave when Speed grabbed onto the back of his lab coat.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I was going to go help Calleigh. She said she was having trouble identifying those fibres in the Caine case."

"No no no no no no you are NOT leaving me here to wait for this machine to throw out answers."

"You don't have to wait Speed, you could always go take a walk and check on it when you get back."

"But then I don't know straight away."

"That's your problem." Eric smiled at his buddy and backed out the doorway. Tim Speedle was always far too impatient but that was probably what made him such a good CSI. He was always determined to finish a case as fast as possible so he could move onto the next one and start the whole process again. Anyway, right now he wanted to be able to help his boss.

Horatio had been depressed ever since the death of his brother and would refuse to talk about it, insisting that another topic was discussed. He had however been very interested in the case itself as it was being processed and would often turn up unannounced whenever someone was working on it.

Delko soon found Calleigh staring at a tiny fibre through a microscope in the evidence room. As a practical joke, he crept up quietly behind her and poked her in a pressure point, right behind her ear.

"Jeeze! What the-?" Her hand flew to her ear and she whipped round to give a playful slap to whoever had played such a trick on her. Her hand stopped in midair when she saw Delko backing away, laughing.

"Do you have to do that Eric? It's not funny!" He could tell that she wasn't really upset with him and he leaned over her shoulder, trying to get a look at the microscope's eyepiece.

"What you got in there? Can you tell yet?"

Calleigh's expression changed from playfully annoyed to frustratingly serious too fast in his opinion.

"It's just a white fibre, Eric. Common as muck. I put it under the microscope to see if there was any other trace in it that we could use but there's nothing. It's a dead end. We have no evidence, Eric."

Her voice shook slightly and she scolded herself for almost crying. _You hardly knew him! Why are you getting so upset? _Deep down inside, she already knew. She had wanted to catch this guy because she knew how important it was for Horatio that he was brought to justice but she had failed. Delko sat down and had a look through the microscope himself and he could see that Calleigh was right. It was a tiny strand of white cotton with... a tiny speck of blood on it?

"Hey, Calleigh? Did you see this? There's blood on this fibre, look!"

"I know Delko. I already checked it. It's Ray's."

Delko swore under his breath. Calleigh was right. There was nothing more, that as Crime Scene Investigators, they could do. The feeling of helplessness was making him itch but he didn't know what to do about it. Everything now would have to be left to the IAB detectives who were already searching through a list of known associates for suspects. Delko knew that they wouldn't be able to find enough to press charges. _They never do._

Almost on cue, Delko looked up to see Horatio watching them through the glass. His face was unreadable as usual but there was an air about him that suggested sadness. He was technically looking at Eric but for all he could tell, Horatio was looking right through him. Calleigh hurried out to greet her boss and Delko followed her cautiously, unsure how he would react when he learnt that they may never find his brother's killer.

"Horatio," began Calleigh, "I looked at that fibre again. I'm sorry but there's nothing we can use to link it with the killer. All we can assume is that that fibre was part of a material wrapped around whatever object was used to beat Ray and Yelina."

Horatio hardly reacted. It was though he had been expecting to hear what she had said and he merely nodded.

"I'm so sorry H." There was a long pause which made Delko feel extremely uneasy. Finally, Horatio half said, half whispered,

"They're putting her in a foster home."

"What? Why?"

Calleigh already knew that he was talking about Lauren, his niece. Since her parents had died she had been taken into temporary child care until a guardian could be determined but Calleigh had never expected that they would refuse to let Horatio care for her.

"H, why won't they let her live with you?"

"They won't let me be her official guardian unless I quit my job. Apparently I work too many hours to be able to sufficiently take care of a child her age."

Calleigh stopped herself before she asked why he wouldn't quit his job. It would have been a stupid question. He was his job. Miami didn't need Horatio Caine as much as Horatio Caine needed Miami. He may have started out as a bomb expert in New York but he had somehow found his purpose as the leader of the CSI team down in Florida.

"Will you still be able to see her?"

"Of course. I'll visit whenever I can; they said they'll even let me take her out for the day every now and then. They only draw the line at her coming to live with me."

"Well that's okay, isn't it? You can still see her and be there for her. Maybe it's better that way, H."

"Maybe."

Horatio slid his trusty old sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on. He never told anyone this before, but wearing his sunglasses made him feel as though he wasn't part of the world anymore; they provided a barrier which allowed him to think he was only a viewer watching a T.V, or a reader reading a story. It numbed him.

Calleigh and Delko watched him leave in silence. His presence had made them feel better about the situation somehow knowing that if anyone could catch Ray's killer, Horatio could.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there people! Never fear, chapter four is here! For those that are at all interested, my method didn't work because I am still dreaming about Horatio Caine every night. I am convinced it is because I am writing this story but nothing could stop me now! I love writing this! Please read and review you guys because reading your reviews is such a great ego boost!**

**XXLollyXX**

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The soft tones of the piano echoed around the room and lifted the spirits of those who were listening. Every accent, every crescendo was played with such passion and feeling that the small audience was nearly brought to tears. The music was steadily gaining speed and with every passing note the young girl played she bent lower and lower over the keys until it was no longer possible to see her face. As the final few chords rang out she leaned back and breathed in deeply, showing just how much of an effort it was for her to play in this way. The few spectators that were dotted around on various sofas gave a small round of applause as one girl got up to talk to the performer who was now cracking her knuckles nervously.

"Was that okay? Did I play it right?"

"Girl, that was great I mean it. There are just a few things like the ritardando here-" she pointed to a part of the music on the book in front of them, "and you forgot to pedal this bit here." Her finger slid across the page and indicated a passage lower down. "It's okay though. I'm just a perfectionist; you know what I'm like." The girl grabbed the pianist's head and hugged it to her chest. "I can't believe I taught you how to play! It's so unfair, you're better than I am now."

Lauren smiled and pulled her head out of her friend's embrace. Since Emma had arrived on a stormy night two years ago, the two of them had spent many hours at the piano in the foster home's living room learning to play song after song. They had grown so close that they were practically sisters now despite one being half Colombian and the other being of German descent. Performances like the one just witnessed were not uncommon in the house and many of the other foster children would come down from their rooms to be able to listen better.

Lauren picked up her music and was getting up from the stool when she saw a figure leaning against the door frame which made her stop in her tracks. The man, seeing that she had noticed his presence stepped forward into the room and carefully placed his sunglasses in his pocket. All eyes in the room were drawn to him and every child in the room was silent, compelling Horatio to speak first.

"That was beautiful, Lauren. You never told me you could play the piano."

She met his remark with a stony faced expression that she hoped conveyed just how much she didn't want to see him. The other kids in the room had seen enough tense moments to be able to recognise this one and they all scurried to their rooms as fast as they could, leaving Horatio and Lauren watching one another.

Lauren had held a grudge against her uncle ever since she had been old enough to understand why he had agreed to let her live in a foster home. She probably wouldn't have felt this so strongly if he bothered to visit more often than he did but to Lauren, once a month didn't seem like he cared. Right now, she didn't want to talk to him so she turned and sat back down in front of the piano instead. She resolved as she began to play, that she wouldn't speak to him unless she truly felt she had to and she would instead practice a song that she knew he knew well, just to see if he noticed.

"How long have you been learning for?"

Lauren refused to answer and winced as her concentration lapsed, causing her to play a jarring note. Horatio continued to speak, believing that she didn't have to talk to him if she didn't want to; only listen.

"I've got the day off tomorrow. Especially for you. I thought maybe that... we could go out somewhere? I haven't decided yet but I figured that you're a big girl now and I doubt you'd want to go to the park or anything."

Lauren laughed at him inside her head. _Of course _she didn't want to go to the park with him. He was completely out of touch in her opinion. Or was she being too hard on him? She fought internally with herself like this so often. She loved him because... well he was her uncle, wasn't he? But that didn't mean that she had to love him. _You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family, _her foster mother would often say. It didn't really apply in a foster home which was of course, one of the few places where you can choose your family but Lauren still believed it very strongly. She fought the urge to say anything in reply.

"I'll pick you up after school. I was thinking we could go to Clancy's for dinner? Lauren? Do you want to go to Clancy's or would you rather go somewhere else? Lauren?"

It was useless trying to get her to answer when she was in this kind of mood. He had tried before and it often ended in the two of them shouting at each other. It had been so much easier when she was younger but now she was a teenager she was being typically difficult. He decided to try one last time before giving up.

"Lauren. Where do you want to go for your birthday?"

"Home."

Horatio groaned inwardly and ran a hand through his red hair in frustration. This girl was _impossible._ He often found it difficult to relate to children but for some reason they didn't seem to mind. Many of his co-workers had commented in the past on how good he was with children and he was inclined to believe them, if only he didn't doubt himself so much. _Is she still a child any more? _He couldn't tell. She had certainly grown up since her parents had died but it didn't necessarily mean she was responsible. Or reasonable, for that. It was best to leave now and try again tomorrow when she might be in a better mood, simply because it was her fourteenth birthday.

"I'll see you tomorrow then outside school. Don't be late because I'm going to book the table."

Still, she wouldn't respond. Horatio finally gave up and left Lauren playing the final strands of her favourite old nursery rhyme. Her father used to sing it to her when she was tiny and for some reason it reminded her of the day he and her mother had died. She heard the front door click shut and before she could stop herself she began to cry. She couldn't entirely understand why it upset her so much that he hadn't even noticed she had been playing a song that had meant so much to her family once. Distraught, she slammed the lid on the keys shut and ran to her room in tears wishing that she could be with her family once more but knowing it could never be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five is upon us already! I've been looking forward to writing this one for a long time because this was the original story idea I had but I needed to give it a backstory before I could dive into this one! Those that review will get happy feelings, I promise.**

**XXLollyXX**

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Delko yawned hugely and attempted to hide it by stuffing a bagel into his mouth but he was too late. The cute new lab rat had already seen him and was trying not to smile too much. Still chewing, he flipped through the case file in front of him absentmindedly. None of the mug shots he was currently looking at looked familiar and that was a bad sign. He had been hoping to recognise one of the men he had met today at the marina but the file that he had borrowed from Frank wasn't helping him at all. When he had gone through every last photo he closed the file and looked up to see the lab rat watching him. She looked away and as she turned Delko could see the name on her lab coat. _A. Parker. What does the A stand for? _he wondered. He reminded himself to leave a space for her name in his address book and left to go and give the file back to Frank. 

"You shouldn't be eating in here. It's lab rules." A. Parker's voice followed him as he left. Pausing to look back and mentally scratch her name from his future address book, he turned and headed towards the reception area.

There were a small number of people wandering around when he arrived there. Some MDPD officers barged their way past him and there was a middle aged balding man whispering into a cell phone in the corner but what caught Delko's eye was a young girl stood at the desk. She was bouncing on her toes, tapping her fingers on the desk and looking around nervously as though she was afraid of everyone and everything around her. The receptionist was ignoring this as best as she could as she looked something up on the computer in front of her.

Did he know her from somewhere? Since Speedle's death Delko had dated quite a few girls but he was certain she was too young to have been one of them. He was _sure _he recognised her, although he didn't have a clue where from. She looked about fourteen, fifteen maybe, with long dark hair and deep red lips. She looked part Spanish, but Delko couldn't be sure. It was difficult to tell these days.

"Excuse me, Miss? Can I help you?" he asked as he laid the file down on the counter. Her eyes rested on him only for a moment before looking around the room once more.

"I don't know. Do you know Horatio Caine?"

"Horatio? Yeah he's my boss what did you need him for?"

It clicked. Ray's daughter must be the same age about now, right? He hadn't seen Lauren since Horatio had brought her into the lab with him a few years ago but this was most certainly her.

"I really need to see him. I'm sorry but it's really urgent. You don't happen to know where he is, do you?"

_Shouldn't she be in school?_

"I can find him for you." Just to be sure, he asked, "What did you say your name was?"

"Lauren."

_Bingo. _Delko smiled and was about to go back into the lab to search when he saw his boss already standing in the hallway, his hands on his hips. Slightly dejected, he pointed him out to Lauren who didn't go straight to her uncle as he had expected her to but instead bit her lip nervously. Delko had no idea what the relationship was like between Horatio and his niece but he swiftly decided that it wasn't any of his business and left to give Frank his file back in person.

Horatio knew it was his duty to make the first move so he motioned for Lauren to sit down next to him on one of the plastic chairs spread around the reception. She joined him and fiddled with her school skirt as she played for time, not knowing how to explain what had happened or why she was so scared. Horatio saw that she was struggling to find something to say so he spoke first.

"Why aren't you in school right now? I told you I would pick you up afterwards, didn't I? There's still another half an hour left."

Lauren wanted to look at her uncle but it was too hard. She inspected her nails and replied,

"I didn't know what to do. I just came to see you to see if... if..."

She broke off, still unsure of how she could tell him.

"What's wrong? Has something happened?"

She swallowed and shifted her feet uncomfortably.

"There was a guy outside school today. He said... he said that he knew you and that you had told him to pick me up. He had a badge and everything, H."

Lauren hadn't called Horatio by his nickname for at least two years. Horatio would have considered it a bonus if he hadn't been so troubled by what she had just told him.

"I knew something wasn't right because he called you Lieutenant Caine. No one you trust enough to pick me up from school would call you that."

_Smart kid._

"Also..." Admitting this next part was hard because she didn't want to make her uncle mad, especially when she wanted to ask him something very important in just a few moments, "... I knew you couldn't have sent him because you thought I finished at 3:30 today but I never told you I finish at 3 when I don't have a piano lesson."

It was Horatio's turn to not know what to say. Hearing that a complete stranger, who clearly knew small details about his family, had tried to kidnap Lauren from school was one of the few things that could leave him speechless. The thought gave him shivers, despite the hot Miami air. _Were those goosebumps?_

"Please Horatio," her voice trembled with fear but she held herself together for her pride's sake, "I don't want to live at the foster home any more. I want to come live with you. Please say yes."

She waited briefly for Horatio to say something before arguing her case anyway.

"I'm fourteen now. It's perfectly legal for me to be at home on my own when you're not working. Please H, I'd feel so much safer at your house than at the foster home. You'd let me lock the door, wouldn't you? They don't lock the door at the home until 9pm. Don't ask me why, it's complete crap about how the older kids have freedom to come and go during the evening. Please Horatio. _Please."_

She shook his arm in an attempt to get some kind of reaction out of him. She had never seen him acting like this and it nearly unnerved her as much as the incident with the stranger earlier. She fumbled with his fingers and tried to force him to hold her hand, to identify with her at that moment. All those years of hating him for what he had done had melted away now. Horatio slowly took hold of her hand and put it back down in her lap before he embraced his niece and held her tight to him, just like he had done nearly seven years ago when he had pulled her from a box in the shed.

"Of course Lolly. Welcome home."

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**Okay, I know the inclusion of my own nickname is a bit cheesy (for me anyways) but I think it's a damn cute nickname and I want Lauren to share it because she's cute too. Read and review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story, you are all absolute angels and reading your comments never fails to bring sunshine to my day. Trust me, the weather my hometown is currently having, I NEED some. If you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it then you are probably just as sadistic as me! It's not a bad thing so don't worry. ;)**

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He cursed himself for having failed. All those months of preparation, watching both her and her uncle, studying the people around them, planting bugs in her house and paying for information had come to nothing. He banged his head against the steering wheel repeatedly as a punishment for his lack of success. He didn't care that the horn beeped loudly and passers-by were giving him strange looks. _I've ruined everything._

No. He hadn't come so far just to quit. Falling at one hurdle doesn't mean you can't finish the race. He would try again. A different way, perhaps. He leaned back in his seat and watched some teenagers skate past him on the sidewalk. _It would have to be a different way._ A girl as intelligent as Lauren would have figured out what he had been trying to do instantly. He should have seen that flaw before.

He felt like he knew her personally, like a best friend would because he had watched her every move for so long. Going out with her classmates and foster brothers and sisters, going to school, the beach, even when she was alone in her bedroom. It was necessary if he was to know everything he needed to to carry out his plan.

Having regained control of himself, he calmly switched the engine back on and pulled out. She would have gone directly to Horatio the moment she got scared. It was sad really, because she didn't have any other form of protection in her life that she trusted enough. Yes, she hated him for abandoning her like he had but when you have next to nothing then you cling to what you do have. He understood the impulse very well himself. It was something they had in common. People and cars flashed in his vision briefly before they were gone. He hadn't noticed but _was _going rather fast. Maybe she had gone back to her foster home? No, it wasn't secure enough. He had proved that himself when he had broken in about a month ago. He swerved to the right and nearly mounted the kerb. _Shit._

He needed to calm down. Ironically, one of the best ways he had discovered of calming down was to spy on Lauren. He could only describe it as something he was familiar with; a common denominator for his life. That wasn't an option right now. He couldn't go and hang out at his boss' den either because his former "colleagues" had been told he was not welcome. They had distanced themselves from him (to put it nicely) ever since he started his obsession with Lauren. He couldn't help it. She had escaped him and that was what intrigued him.

It hadn't been easy to push her into the shed; in fact it was much easier to kill her parents than it had been to dispose of her. They put up next to no resistance compared to their daughter: Lauren had bit, kicked, scratched, punched and poked him in the eye before he had picked her up with one arm and thrown her bodily into the shed. If the neighbour hadn't heard her screams and called the police then he would have certainly enjoyed slowly taking her life, just so he could watch her give into him. Unfortunately, they had and he had been reduced to a stalker, intent on finishing what he had started.

He slowed to a stop as he reached the Miami Dade crime lab. He had parked here many times before when he had been trying to figure out Horatio's routine. He would come in early every morning and only leave when it had begun to get dark. Talk about commitment. If the man had cared for his niece as much as he had for his job then Mark doubted that he would have been able to get anywhere near as close as he had in the past. Or today, for that matter. Horatio had only ever visited her on average of once a month for just a few hours. In the holidays he would perhaps take her out for a day to the zoo but he couldn't remember a time when Lauren had ever stayed at his house. He pitied her, in a way. The only person who had ever looked out for her was him, Mark, and she didn't even know it. It was a shame.

There she was! He nearly knocked the handbrake off in his excitement as she descended the steps from the lab. Mark leaned forward as much as he dared to get a better look and saw that she was being closely followed by Horatio. It was touching, really. _Pity it took a kidnap scare to make him realise how precious she is. _The two of them paused for a moment to discuss something. Was Horatio _smiling?_ He had just found out his niece was nearly kidnapped! Who gave him the right to smile? Mark wound his window down just a little in the hope that he would be able to hear what they were saying.

"… be alone when you're at work? I don't mind, I was just wondering if you had a maid or anything."

"Yes but she works for three hours on a Saturday and goes home. She doesn't live there."

"Oh. Okay. Well would you mind if I had friends over to keep me company?"

Horatio considered it. It was enough for him to have one teenager in the house but two? Or more? Especially when he wasn't going to be there. It was starting to sound like this wasn't such a good idea after all if he couldn't be the one that was in control. He was unsure how to refuse so he gave his best politician's answer.

"Maybe. I'll have to meet your friends first."

"No way! That would be so embarrassing! H, you gotta understand. I'm not a typical teenager, I don't have massive house parties to which everyone is invited and positively encouraged to get drunk. I swear."

"You shouldn't."

"Stop twisting my words."

"I'm not." He couldn't help smiling. He was finally getting the chance to know her better and the excitement was making him slightly giddy. The fact that she didn't hate him anymore was certainly going to take some getting used to.

"Come on, we have to get your things from the foster home before we think about anything else. Do you want to sit in the front of the SUV or the back?"

"Front. Blatantly."

They climbed into their respective seats and put their seatbelts on. Horatio glanced sideways at her, still quite unnable to believe that she was finally going to be where she belonged.

"You know… I'm glad that you're coming to live with me. I'd always hoped that we could find a compromise which allowed us to see more of each other. I never intended to leave you in a foster home but it just happened that way. I'm sorry."

Lauren cringed at her uncle's apology. She always knew that she had hurt him by blaming him for her unhappiness but hearing him say sorry caused her to realise how much unnecessary guilt she had laid upon him. She didn't know how to tell him just yet so she settled for:

"Forget it."

The SUV drove off slowly down the street and Mark followed it dutifully. So she was going to stay at Horatio's house now? That was going to prove to be quite a challenge for him if he was going to achieve his final aim. He had seen Horatio's house on occasion and so far he hadn't thought of a good way to break in. This was going to get very interesting.

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**I feel so evil having written that.** **Please don't hate me! If anyone was wondering where the name Mark came from I thought to myself today, "Mark is a weird name. It could also mean a smudge of dirt or something." and then it clicked that I should use it for my baddie :P **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi readers! I'm not going to say much now except: enjoy.**

**XXLollyXX**

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Alexx brushed the girl's hair back behind her shoulders. It always saddened her to cut open corpses this young but it was all part of the job. She put on her best brave face and proceeded with the work that had to be done. First, she photographed the wounds on the girl's face. At first blush they looked as though she had been attacked with a blunt object which had caused her nose to break and her eye to turn purple and swell. A hammer, perhaps? It wouldn't be the first time she had seen one used like this. She moved onto the girl's hands, holding one up to get a closer look. Like her face, it was swollen and bruised and Alexx counted two broken fingers. _Defensive wounds. _The girl had tried to protect herself.

"Poor baby, you didn't have a fair fight, did you?"

The door to the coroner's room opened and Horatio Caine entered, slipping on his lab coat. He smiled a greeting and Alexx noted that it was the first time she had seen him smile in weeks.

"Good morning Horatio. If you've come to hear my prelim you're far too early. I've only just started taking photos this minute."

"That's alright Alexx, I came here to pick up the report on our John Doe from yesterday."

"It's on the desk ready for you. Cause of death was a drug overdose. Shame really." She motioned to the file on top of her desk before returning to her task in hand. "I've been hearing rumours Horatio."

"About what?" he replied innocently, taking the folder.

"You! Your niece has moved in with you, am I right?"

"Nothing gets past you, does it? You're almost as bad as Calleigh."

"It's not interfering, it's caring Horatio. You should know the difference. So, how's it going?"

He considered it.

"It's only been a two days. She seems to be coping well though. She cooked dinner for me last night: Jacket potato with cheese and beans."

Alexx laughed.

"I could cook that with my eyes closed!" She put her camera back down and wrote something down in the coroner's notebook. "At least she's making the effort. I'm lucky if I get a thank you for my meals and the best I've been made is toast and coffee on Mother's Day. How are you coping?"

Horatio was caught off guard by the personal question and answered,

"I'm not sure what you mean. I don't know... it's weird having someone else around the house but it's nice too. Nice to have someone to talk to at the end of the day."

"As opposed to talking to me at the beginning."

"I enjoy both."

They both hesitated; Alexx's hand hovered in midair as she was about to make the first incision. _What was that supposed to mean? Am I reading in too deep to what he said? Oh God, say something!_

"That's good to know."

It was a cop out but at least she hadn't gone blank. She remembered herself and carefully made the Y-incision on the girl's chest. _Forget it, Alexx._

Horatio, blissfully unaware of Alexx's sudden internal dilemma resumed his previous thought.

"It's easier for us to talk now. About Raymond and Yelina, mostly. She asks me things like how they met and what their wedding was like. I even showed her the photos. She'd never seen them."

"Never? I tried to show my kids our wedding photos but they weren't too interested. If they weren't there then they don't care."

"I'm sure they will appreciate them when they're older."

Alexx snorted involuntarily.

"I doubt it." She peeled back the skin of the corpse and took a good look at her internal organs. "I'd better get started with this one H if you don't mind."

"Of course. I'll leave you to it. Thanks for the report." He waved it earnestly.

"No problem honey."

Bless Horatio. She watched him leave before she went back to the autopsy. It was good to see him in such a good mood. She wasn't entirely sure why, since the main reason Lauren was living with him was because she had nearly been kidnapped but he was obviously looking on the bright side of things. _So he should, _she thought to herself.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

The knock on her door was so soft she barely noticed it. Turning the radio down, she called,

"It's alright. Come in."

Horatio bent his head around the door to check she was decent before coming all the way in.

"Hey Lauren. Good day at school?"

"Good enough. I got the bus home with Emma like you told me to."

"Good girl."

She flicked through the channels idly looking for something good to watch.

"There's nothing on. Can you believe it? Ninety nine channels and it's all crap."

He winced slightly at the use of the swear word but chose to let it go. It was only a minor one after all.

"Maybe it's a sign that you should go to bed now. It's late and you've got to get up and make your own breakfast tomorrow; I'm on an early."

Lauren had thought getting up at seven was early until she had been woken up the previous morning by Horatio listening to the six o'clock news on the radio.

"Fine by me. As long as I can have waffles." A brief wave of panic washed over her. "Oh please say we've got waffles H, I've been dying to have one ever since they were serving them in the canteen today!"

It amused him that she could get so worked up over a mere waffle.

"Yes, we have waffles…"

She jumped up from her bed and rugby-tackled him into a hug nearly knocking him over in the process.

"Aw, thanks H! I'd offer to make you one, but…"

She stepped back and rearranged her hair which had stuck to her face. He had to admit as he looked at her; even in her baggy pyjamas she was beautiful. She certainly did her mother's good looks justice.

"It's nice of you to offer. Good night Lolly."

He closed the door behind him and strolled down the hallway to his own bedroom. Truthfully, he still didn't see as much of her as he has thought he would but once a day was enough for him. It was evidently better than once a month. He finally had something he could call a family,

He didn't notice the shadow in the hallway as he shut his bedroom door. It moved slowly and silently in the darkness, seizing its first opportunity that night to approach Lauren's room unseen. It only needed a minute and its job would be done. Tonight, it would show just what it was capable of.

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Dearie me, a cliffhanger! I'd better write that next chapter quick, hadn't I?

Maybe I'll write faster if you review? Go on...

XXLollyXX


	8. Chapter 8

**Gosh, that cliffhanger had even me wondering what he was going to do to Lauren. Seriously, I hadn't consolidated anything at that point. Well, I've done it now and hopefully it's as freaky on paper (Paper? Maybe... screen?) is it was in my head. Thanks to Jeannie and Laura for proof reading all my chapters for me and egging me on to write more. -huggles-**

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The worst part was the waiting. Knowing that she was just yards away from him was so thrilling he was having difficulty keeping quiet but he knew he must maintain his silence at all costs. Discovery would destroy everything he had planned for tonight and he had come to far now to back out of it. He forced himself to sit it out. 

He stared at his watch in the moonlight. Why were seconds so slow? Each one took an age to pass and it took fifty nine more before a minute had gone. Time was just one of those things you can't control no matter how hard you try. He had no idea how long it would take her to fall asleep so he had decided beforehand to give it at least an hour. The delay was agonizing and he itched to do something to take his mind off the time. Anything that made no noise would be fine, but he couldn't think of something. He should have prepared for this better.

An idea occurred to him. He had a red felt tip pen in his pocket and he saw no reason not to use it. Out of sheer boredom he retrieved it from his jeans and began to colour in his fingernails. Hell, it was something to do with his hands, even if it was girly. No one was here to see and he could easily wash it off when he returned home later. It would be his secret.

When he was done with his fingernails he held them up in front of his face and peered at them. If he squinted, it looked as though he had dipped his fingertips in blood and that took away the girliness instantly. _Yes, I've got blood on my hands. Just like Lady Macbeth. Boy was she crazy. Not like me._ He wondered for a moment if he should start on his toenails but he rejected the idea, reasoning that you had to draw the line somewhere. Besides, taking off his shoes would cause too much noise. _Silence is golden._

Minutes dragged slower than a three legged turtle and Mark had now progressed to drawing on the wall behind him. He could have been an artist when he was younger but by then he was already heavily involved in Miami's drug scene and he had dropped out of college to work for his old boss. _Who now wants me dead_ he thought to himself. _Two faced bastard. _

The picture on the wall was crude owing to the fact that he only had a felt tip pen but that didn't stop him trying his hardest. He had drawn the first thing that came to mind which had inevitably been Lauren. Her deep brown eyes, her pointed nose, her stunning smile and her curled, thick black hair were so easy to draw after watching her for months on end. As he went on, he added her favourite necklace around her throat; a silver ring on a chain that she had inherited from her mother. It was so realistic that he almost imagined that when he touched it, he was touching her.

He stood back a little way to admire it. Not bad for- he checked his watch- an hours work? Had he really been drawing that long? He had lost himself in his work and had barely noticed the time as it passed. There was no time to wonder at his mental blackout; now she would be asleep and he could finally enter her room. His goal was _so_ close.

The door gave little resistance and opened as smoothly as he could have hoped. The figure on the bed did not stir once as he pushed it to behind him. The prolonged wait had been worth it because she was sleeping peacefully with her face towards the window and her legs spread at unusual angles on the sheets. Her white pyjamas made her look almost like an angel at rest and he wished he had brought a camera with him so he might relive this moment later on. It was too late now; he would have to remember next time.

He advanced slowly and climbed onto the edge of the bed. The mattress sank down under his weight but Lauren did not seem to notice. He was terrified that his breathing which was steadily getting faster would wake her up but she appeared to be oblivious to everything around her. Now was the time. _Hello, Lolly…_

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

The sound of breaking glass was the first noise that woke Horatio Caine the next morning. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he glanced at the clock and swore. Somehow he had overslept.

Reality flowed back in and he remembered the breaking glass. What the hell was that? His answer came soon enough when a piercing scream shot through the house and jumpstarted his brain. _Lauren? _He catapulted himself out of bed and struggled into a shirt as he made his way to the bathroom, where he had heard the scream emanate from.

Lauren was sitting on top of the toilet with her arms around her knees and her face hidden by her hair. She wasn't crying as such, but she was breathing hard and fast and shaking fitfully.

"Lauren? What's happened?"

His line of vision moved so that he noticed the mirror which took up the majority of the wall behind the door. It had smashed and all the cracks seemed to come from a ring in the centre. His knowledge as a CSI told him that someone had hit the mirror with their fist.

"Why's the mirror broken? Lauren, talk to me."

He put his arm around the girl's shoulders and brushed back her hair. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw there. Around her neck were perfect little red lines, tracing a ring around her throat. At his touch Lauren instinctively hit out at Horatio's arm causing him to drop her hair obscuring the marks once more. His heartbeat quickened with panic and fear. _What the hell was this? Some kind of sick joke? _He kept his voice calm so he wouldn't panic her any more than was necessary.

"How did those get there? Let me look again sweetheart. It's okay, I just want to get a better look."

She kept still and allowed him to lift up her hair once more to reveal the strange tattoo. It went all the way around her neck, tiny little evenly spaced red lines drawn in what looked like a felt tip pen. At intervals there would be a miniscule drawing of a pair of scissors. It was obvious what had been intended: the line was a copy of lines that you would find on a piece of paper encouraging you to cut it with some scissors. Whoever had drawn it was suggesting they would have cut her head off.

"Get it off me," Lauren whispered, "Please, I can't stand it being there."

Lauren leaned away from him in a pointless attempt to try and distance herself from the disturbing artwork on her skin. Horatio wanted more than anything to wash it off for her but it was clearly evidence now and he couldn't touch it until he could find a way of processing it.

"I can't Lolly. It's evidence."

She sobbed and found his hand with her fingers. She lifted them up towards her face and to Horatio it seemed as though she was too scared to touch it herself, preferring him to do it.

"I don't care H. I want it OFF me!"

Horatio pulled his hand back and tried to explain,

"Lauren, you've got to understand. If I can get someone to process this then we will have a much better chance at catching the psycho that did it. Promise me you won't wash it off."

She nodded weakly and squeezed his hand in fear. Unwillingly he let it go and reassured her he was only going to fetch his cell phone. He knew this needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

"I'm sorry I broke the mirror H," she called after him, "I couldn't control myself."

His hands were shaking as he dialled Tripp's number. He had almost been expecting that the creep after Lauren would either try to kidnap her again or hurt in some way but this was worse. Someone was trying to manipulate them by breaking into his house and playing with both their minds and he was damned if he was going to let that happen. _No malicious criminal is going to hurt my family any more._

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

That night Lauren lay awake under the covers on Horatio's bed. She couldn't bring herself to stay in the room where she had been attacked without even knowing it. Horatio had laid a spare mattress against this side of the door and was dutifully sleeping next to it like a guard dog. The single window had been locked and Horatio had the idea to put the key on a string around his neck so no one else would be able to access it.

Despite the many precautions her uncle had taken, Lauren was too scared to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she could still see the image that had reflected back at her from the mirror that morning. Instinct had caused her to throw her fist against the vision, shattering the mirror but the damage had already been done.

Unable to relax, she instead listened to the saddest songs on her i-pod, drowning in her own misery. Her favourite song was playing now and it was more relevant now than it ever had been before.

_Like my father's come to pass_

_Seven years has gone so fast_

_Wake me up when September ends_

_Here comes the rain again_

_Falling from the stars_

_Drenched in my pain again_

_Becoming who we are_

_As my memory rests_

_But never forgets what I lost_

_Wake me up when September ends._

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**Poor little Lauren. This is one of the reasons I hate mirrors because you can never be sure what you will see. Sorry this chapter was kind of long but I couldn't bear to break it into two I much preferred it as a whole. Please review if you liked it. If anyone has any ideas how Mark could psychologically tortue Lauren some more I'm all ears.**

**XXLollyXX**

**Ps. I forgot to write a disclaimer: I don't own any songs apart from a little ditty called 'My best friend's a bimbo' which you guys wouldn't want to hear anyway ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey people, I have Chapter Nine. Obviously. I think I'm going to wrap this story up soon but I love Lauren so much I may write about her later life when she becomes a CSI in New York (That doesn't necessarily mean she will survive this story! I may resurrect her.) If anyone does particularly want me to write about her in NY then let me know in a review or by PM.**

**Enough about that! We want to know what Mark is gonna do!**

**Disclaimer: (I haven't done one of these for a while so I'll do one now) I don't own CSI Miami, if I did I wouldn't still be at school; I would have mansions in Miami, Las Vegas, New York, Tokyo, London and Rome and I would bathe in money.**

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"I could make a list of places I would rather be right now. At home would be the first one. Then… at the gym. I've gotten into that lately."

"Would you prefer to be unconscious, Darling?" Tripp snapped. His buddy had been complaining for the last fifteen minutes and it didn't hurt to make fun of the man's surname.

"No need to be so violent, Tripp. I'm just voicing my opinion."

Tom Darling sighed. Tripp was good at his job but sometimes he was too good. And he was slightly aggressive. Every time they had five minutes to spare he would volunteer the two of them to go and keep watch over Lieutenant Caine's house and he wouldn't take no for an answer from his partner.

"Is it even necessary that I'm here? It's not exactly a two person job, watching somebody's house. You could easily do this by yourself."

Frank Tripp decided not to answer that one and chose instead to zone out from his questions. He came to Horatio's house as often as possible because he considered it to be his duty to protect his friend. Call Frank Tripp what you like as long as you don't call him disloyal. It had been four months since that… incident where the unknown man had broken in and abused Lauren but he understood the criminal mind and he knew that this guy, whoever he was, would jump at the first chance to get in again. _Just let him try, _he thought to himself. _I'll get two in his gut before he even gets inside the house_.

"Hey what's that guy doing?"

Darling nodded towards a man across the street who was walking a German Shepherd with a disguised air of nonchalance. The dog was powering down the street but the short man behind it was pulling on its collar and making an effort to slow it down. He was trying to look as casual as possible and he was failing. The look on his face suggested he wanted to kick his dog just to stop it walking.

"Can you get a good shot?"

"Yeah, one sec."

Tripp raised his camera and balanced it on the steering wheel in order to take a photo of the man. He was fairly short, wearing a grubby white t-shirt and a baseball cap that was covering his eyes. Tripp waited for just the right moment when the man looked across the street at Horatio's house and-

_Click. Click, click._

Three photos would be enough to identify this man in the future if the need ever arose. For now, Frank lowered his camera and watched the man go past the car out of the corner of his eye. It was impossible to see if he had noticed the car or not but it would take an intelligent mind to identify the men inside as cops.

"Do you think that was the guy? He certainly had a good look at Caine's house, didn't he?"

"I don't know Darling. Something in my gut says he ain't up to no good."

"What you gonna do about it?"

"I can't arrest the guy for looking at a house, can I? The whole damn world would have to go around with its eyes shut. We can only arrest him if he goes near the house."

Darling looked disappointed.

"All right."

Half an hour passed and Tripp decided it was time to clock off. The suspicious guy with the dog hadn't come back and Darling was getting far too restless. He drove back to the station to hand in the camera film and call it a day. If he had turned round at the right moment when he was still in the car, he might have seen the guy in the white t-shirt return without his dog and slip quietly down the side of the house next door. Sadly for Lauren, he hadn't.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"I don't know what I did with it Emma, for all I know it was eaten by an Andean Condor."

"A _what_?"

"Andean Condor? Great huge bird of prey with a nine to ten foot wingspan?"

Emma stared at her with her _I-don't-care-so-stop-explaining _look. She only came out with stuff like this to show off how clever she was and it made her feel stupid in comparison.

"Well you have to find it by Friday 'cause Sara will murder you with a fish fork if you don't give it back."

"I know she will. It's at home somewhere, I just can't remember for the life of me where."

"Speaking of home," piped up a voice from the driver's seat, "remind me which house is your uncle's?"

Lauren glanced out of the window and noticed with surprise that they had reached her neighbourhood already.

"This one here. That's it, right here," she added as the Volkswagen slowed to a stop outside Horatio's house. She pushed the door open with one hand and grabbed her schoolbag with the other as she hopped out of the car and onto the kerb.

"Thanks for the lift!" she called as she rammed the door shut behind her. Emma waved madly goodbye through the back window as it sped off down the road again. She waved back as she watched it turn the corner onto the main road. Horatio insisted that she didn't get the bus to and from school because it was too public. Getting a lift with the woman who volunteered at the foster home was much safer because Lauren had already known her and been chauffeured by her for years.

She crossed the lawn to reach the front door and simply didn't have enough time to react when an arm came out of nowhere to lock around her neck and a hand clamped a dirty rag over her mouth. She wanted to scream but she knew if she did then she would breathe in whatever was in the rag and that would make matters worse. Instead, she kicked out behind her and felt her heel connect with a knee which buckled under the force. The attacker stumbled backwards pulling her with them and the arm tightened on her neck. She couldn't even breathe if she wanted to. Lauren continued to kick out with one foot; her right hand gripped the arm closing her windpipe and her left went backwards, clawing at the stranger's face.

_Help… please! Someone, anyone? Why is there no one around when I get attacked? This is him, this is the same freak that drew on my neck! I'm going to die! Horatio? Where are you when it matters? I can't breathe… I'm going to pass out… Why does this keep happening to me? I'm going to die!_

Getting nowhere, she aimed her kick a little higher than before and felt her shoe hit something soft. A deep wheeze from behind her confirmed her suspicions that it was a man that was attempting to kill her but that had been obvious from the start. Horatio had said before that the majority of violent criminals were men and there was a reason for stereotypes. Her assailant winded, Lauren tugged on his grip trying to pull herself free but it was far too tight. This man wasn't letting go for the world. Steadily, Lauren's vision darkened and she strove to stay conscious. She had managed to hold her breath this long but right now it was an effort to do anything at all. She resisted less and altogether ceased to fight back. The exertion had been far too much; all her muscles gave way and she finally took in a shuddering breath.

A disgusting taste filled her mouth and she gagged, nearly throwing up. Her whole body thrashed as she choked on the fumes and a fuzzy sensation filled her head. Her eyes rolled backwards as her senses yielded to the drug and Lauren finally surrendered to her enemy, at a loss to defy him any longer.

She succumbed to the invading black.

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**No! Lauren! What would Horatio do if yet another person he loved ended up dying on him? I read somewhere that the reason most CSIs can't get dates is because every woman Horatio Caine sleeps with ends up dead. It's so TRUE!**

**Please leave a review, if I get lots then I am inspired to write the next chapter faster. Honestly.**

**XXLollyXX**


	10. Chapter 10

**I hope you enjoy readin this as much as I enjoy writing this. Thanks again to Jeannie and Laura for reading this through and telling me off if I make mistakes, I love you!**

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As much as she wanted to, she found that it was impossible to open her eyes. There was a pressure circling her head, suggesting that she had been blindfolded. The blindfold itself, whatever it was, had been tied on so tightly that she couldn't move her eyes even when they were closed.

It was that moment when she realised she was conscious; for some reason she hadn't been aware of it before this point and her brain was finally beginning to make an attempt at a process of thought.

She was tied up. Her hands had been strapped together behind her back and her feet were bound so she was unable to move from her current position of lying on her front, her face to one side. Something was running down her cheek, a liquid of sorts but it was impossible to tell what it was just by touch. For all she knew, she was slowly bleeding from her ears or perhaps she was situated under an object that was dripping on her. She had no way of knowing.

She tried to piece together what had happened before she had found herself in her current predicament. She had been outside Horatio's house, about to go in. Out of nowhere, a man had attacked her and somewhere along the line she had been tied up and left on the floor. There was no sound around her, making her think that whoever had put her where she was was not there with her presently.

She tried to move and groaned when she felt the twine cutting deeply and painfully into her wrists. That wasn't going to work unless she found a way of dislocating her shoulders. Things would probably be a lot easier if she could get this blindfold off somehow. But how? She lifted her head slightly and angled it so the blindfold was held between her face and the floor. If she moved her head like she was trying to nod, the blindfold would move a small way up her face. Eventually, it lifted from her eyes completely and came to rest upon her forehead. Now she could see.

It was almost not worth the effort because the small room she was in was rather dark. It was very plain: she could see a window that had been covered with thick curtains, blocking the evening sunlight's rays. There was a wooden chair with a cream-colored cushion on it next to her head and if she faced the opposite direction all she could see was the door. It was locked from the outside.

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Horatio locked the door behind him and ran his fingers anxiously through his red hair. She should have been home an hour ago and she wasn't answering her cell phone. Thousands of possibilities were running through his mind, each steadily getting worse as his imagination ran riot.

A knock on the door behind him made him jump more than he would like to admit. Unlocking it again, he opened it to reveal his elderly neighbour from across the street. He didn't know her name.

"Can I help you?"

"I think I can help you, actually. Oh, I am awfully sorry, I'm forgetting my manners. My name is Bernie. I live opposite."

"Yes, of course."

He shook her hand. He had seen her around on occaision and if he ever saw her in public he would gave a small wave but he had never before felt the need to socialise with his neighbours.

"Were you waiting for that young girl to come home?"

"My niece? Yes I was. Do you know where she is?"

_Maybe Lauren has gone out with her friends and left a message with Bernie? _The look on the old lady's face told him he was wrong. She wrung her hands together and her lip trembled as she spoke.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come over sooner. I was scared that man might come back."

"What man?"

"There was a man about half an hour ago, I thought he was just saying hello to her at first but then they started fighting…"

"Please, come inside."

Horatio stood back and allowed Bernie to shuffle past him into his hallway. His hand automatically flew to his cell phone and began to dial Tripp's' number.

"Tripp?"

The voice on the end of the line sounded hurried.

"I can't speak for long Horatio, what do you want?"

"Lauren may be in trouble. I need you to GPS her cell phone for me."

"Consider it done."

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The noise of rush hour traffic was dying down outside the window. Whatever had been slipping down her cheek earlier had now been rubbed off onto the rough carpet beneath her. It made an ugly, brown stain on the earthy red around it. She had tried screaming and yelling until she wanted to be sick but it hadn't made the slightest bit of difference. No one could hear her. Her heartbeat, once frantic, had now resumed its natural rhythm but every now and then, a sound from whatever lay beyond the only door would cause it to spike with terror.

What was the point of kidnapping someone, if you were only going to leave them in a smelly room with no explanation? Half of her wanted her stalker to return and enlighten her with his plans but her conscience made reason that if she was being left alone, then it was probably a good thing.

What was going to happen?

Would she die? If he had kidnapped her for money, then she wasn't going to die straight away. He would need to prove to Horatio that his niece was still alive and proof of life is presumably hard to fake. What if he had kidnapped her for other reasons? Goosebumps rose on her skin despite the balmy air as she contemplated her fate that was in the hands of an unfamiliar demon.

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"Would you be able to identify him if you were to see him again?"

Bernie steadily took a sip of coffee and swallowed with degree of unnecessary patience.

"Oh yes. I was looking at the whole thing from behind my curtain. He never once saw me but I made sure I got a good look at him, you see."

"Was this the man?"

Tripp held out a blown-up photograph of the man that had been outside Horatio's house earlier. Bernie delicately took it into her hands and contemplated it.

"How did you get this photo? Were you there too?"

Horatio and Tripp exchanged looks.

"In a way, Ma'am. Can you confirm that this was the man you saw attacking Lauren?"

"Yes. I've seen him round here before but I didn't think much of him. He looked rather scruffy to me." She sniffed haughtily, setting her cup of coffee down an the table with care and regarded Horatio who had so far said very little.

"Have I been of any help, Lieutenant?"

The red head smiled and replied,

"Yes. Thank you. Frank, can I speak to you in private?"

His friend nodded and joined him in the corridor where Bernie would not be able to hear them. All the same, they lowered their voices.

"Have you managed to track her down with GPS?"

"No. Her phone must be turned off. I've got an officer trying it every few minutes in case she does get a chance to turn it on."

"Good, good."

Horatio paced back and forth in the hallway, running his fingers over the damp wallpaper where he had scrubbed for hours to remove a disturbing drawing of his niece left by her stalker.

"We're going to find her, Horatio. Eric is running those tyre tracks through the database right now. With any luck, we can find out who owns the car Lauren was transported in."

As he spoke, his cell phone began to ring. Horatio stopped and watched as Frank extracted it from his pocket and flicked it open.

"Detective Tripp."

"Tripp, it's me Eric. The car was a 1978 AMC Concord belonging to a Mark West. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Maybe. Thanks Eric. I'll run with that."

He flipped his phone shut again and told Horatio what he had learned.

"Does the name Mark West ring a bell, H?"

Horatio thought only for a moment.

"It will soon Frank."

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**I'm not sure how many more chapters there are going to be because I previously thought this was going to be the last one. My fingers just kept typing and typing and now what was the last chapter is probably going to fill three. I don't want to stop!**

**Review it if you liked it :)**

**XXLollyXX**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry it's taking me longer than usual to update but if you had my Biology teacher you would get your homework done first too. This is the longest chapter yet so go and get some popcorn or something. It might be the penultimate chapter unless the last one is just too long (which it could be. You can't stop me!!). Disclaimer: If I owned CSI: Miami I would be wondering why I don't also own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI:NY.**

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Mark had hit a wall. Metaphorically of course; he had not yet progressed to a state of mind where pain was his only release. He had succeeded in bringing Lauren back to his apartment and containing her in the spare bedroom, but the question now was what he would do with her. Ever since that day he had locked her in her family shed he had sworn she wouldn't survive long enough to know his name. Now, the time had come and he was at a loss to bring himself to even look at her any longer.

Why were his emotions in such conflict? He had waited for years to kill her, torture her and watch as everything that defined life was extinguished from her body and he could burn her remains in the wilderness of the Everglades. On the other hand, he wanted to preserve her. Following her, stalking her had become his only purpose and ending it now would be like quitting the game, purely because he was winning. The adrenaline rush of the kidnap itself had subsided by now and he felt he needed something more.

He pulled open the drawer and retrieved a length of green twine, biting off a length long enough to use. Laying the roll back down on the dresser, he tied the twine tightly around his left arm, just above the elbow and pulled it tight with his fingers and teeth on either end. His tourniquet in place, he reached back into the drawer and this time pulled out a small glass bottle with a needle and syringe sticking out of it. Steadying the bottle in his left hand, he painstakingly withdrew the dosage he craved and held it upside down so he could push out any bubbles. Tapping the inside of his elbow, he found the vein he needed and with an intake of breath, he plunged the needle into his arm.

The pain was only a few seconds long and he closed his eyes as he felt the substance enter his body and mess with his mind. The high was one of the best he had had for a long time, possibly because he had something to be high about. He dropped the bottle, now empty, to the floor and watched with pleasure as it smashed and covered the soiled carpet with sticky shards of glass. He felt immortal, fire was rushing through his brain and nothing he could do would stop the grin that was spreading across his face. This moment was _perfect. _

His confidence inflated, he made a spur of the moment decision to see how Lauren was. He didn't care if she was conscious or not, he wanted to share this sensation of euphoria with her. He floated from his bedroom down the hallway and fumbled in his pocket for the key. _Time for some fun…_

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_Mark West? Why does it sound familiar? _Horatio's brain was buzzing with questions as Tripp's Hummer sped down a street in Coral Terrace. Tripp had insisted that they stay in this area whilst awaiting a call from Eric because most of the dealers Raymond had associated with lived in this part of Miami. They were certain now that Mark West was a druggie who had been paid off by one of the local drug lords to kill Raymond Caine when he had learned his true identity. Delko was at this very moment going through Ray's old files to find an address for the guy.

"What is taking that boy so long?" breathed Tripp, after circling the block for a third time. "We should be banging the guy's door down right now!"

On cue, Tripp's cell rang and Horatio picked it up for him.

"Give me good news Eric."

"I'm sorry H. I've gone through every file twice. This guy must have used an alias whenever he was doing a deal. I have three addresses in the Gables and four in the Terrace. If you want, I can give you them all and you can search them one by one. It's slow, but it will get us somewhere. Calleigh's working on search warrants now."

He had to admit, it was better than nothing but that was no guarantee it would be enough. He wrote down each address as Delko read them out to him.

"Thank you Delko. Keep trying to GPS her cell, will you?"

"Sure thing, H."

Horatio hung up and considered the seven addresses on the notepad in front of him. Which was nearest? That would be… Bob Watson's apartment. Nine streets away. He told this to Frank who swung the Hummer so fast it momentarily pinned him back into his seat. He gritted his teeth and fingered the Glock in its holster on his hip. _Whatever it takes._

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Lauren's eyes flew shut when the key turned in the door. She didn't want him to know she was conscious, if he did he would surely try and hurt her in some way. Lauren wasn't ready for that; she was still dizzy from the chloroform and it would only make things worse. Instead, she relied on her ears to tell her what the man was doing as he stepped into the room.

He turned and closed the door behind him. Three steps towards her shook the floor in the room and he stopped again. A scraping noise. The chair was being pulled back, away from her head. Rustling of clothes meant he had sat down on it. His heavy breathing was masking the noise of hers as she began to panic. Her eyelids were flickering beyond her control. What if he noticed? Did she dare take a look? Even with her eyes closed, she perceived a shadow looming over her. Her whole body went tense; she expected the worst but had no idea of when it was coming, or in what form. He spoke to her, much closer than she had realised him to be and his voice was unnervingly soft and soothing.

"Lauren? Are you sleeping?"

His hand touched the top of her head and stroked her hair thoughtfully.

"Wake up, Lauren. I only want to play."

His words made her sick. The chair creaked loudly and Lauren sensed that he had knelt down beside her. She could feel his stinking breath on her face as her studied her.

"Sleeping Beauty," he whispered and he leant forward to kiss her lips. "_My _sleeping-"

"Get off!" she shouted, unable to stand it any longer. She flicked her head back and spat in his face. What a sick, twisted pervert! The bloody cheek of it, she had been expecting him to kick her in the head or slice her throat, the last thing she had braced herself for was _that_.

Mark wasn't surprised at her actions. He had been far too brave to think she would accept him like that. He wiped the glob of spit from his cheek and sucked it slowly from his finger.

"What's wrong, sweetie? You aren't happy to see me?"

_He's deluded! He's bloody mental! Wait… calm down. Think this through._

"I would be if you hadn't tied me up. Why did you do that?"

Mark's face fell. He must have hurt her. But hadn't that been the idea at the time? He shook his head, thinking that it might by some chance put his thoughts in order for him. Nope, hadn't worked. He fiddled in his pocket for something he had taken from her earlier.

"I've brought this back for you. I was going to keep it because it's so pretty and it reminds me of you but maybe you want it back."

He held out Lauren's necklace: a silver ring on a chain which had belonged to her mother before she had died. Lauren was speechless. She hadn't even noticed it had gone and this was a piece of jewellery that she wore every day, without fail. She held up no resistance as he clipped it back onto her neck for her and laid it to rest on her chest.

"I'm sorry if I got it dirty. It looks better on you."

Lauren tried not to think about what he had said and concentrated on how she could play him to her advantage. If he wasn't going to hurt her yet then she hoped she would have time to make a plan of escape.

"What's your name?"

Mark looked crestfallen.

"You don't know?"

"I want you to tell me."

"Mark. Mark West. This is my apartment. Do you like it?"

He waved his hand around to indicate the shabby furnishings and grimy curtains. _It suits him, _she thought. _Disgusting. _

"Hey, Mark? You couldn't untie my wrists could you? It's just- it's just that it kind of hurts… please?"

She looked at him imploringly, willing him to pity her long enough to do her a big favour. If she had had the guts, she would have fluttered her eyelashes.

"I don't want to. You'd try and get away, wouldn't you?"

"No! No Mark, I wouldn't. I promise."

He chewed a ragged nail as he decided. She was still his prisoner, right? The front door was locked and none of the windows opened wide enough for her to jump out. Even if she did try to attack him, she only had her bare hands! How much damage could a teenage girl do to him, Mark? He'd killed enough people in his time she wasn't going to pose much of a physical threat. If releasing her wrists made her more compliant then the pros certainly outweighed the cons. _Yes! I've got nothing to lose. _He pulled her hands up to his face and with his teeth and he ripped at the twine until it came apart.

Lauren's shoulders sagged with relief as her hands separated and she could relax a little better. She wasn't going to fight against him just yet; she would try later when his guard was down. For now, she would settle for being able to move freely without being in pain.

Mark shuffled backwards out of Lauren's reach, just to be sure. She didn't seem too happy about his act of goodwill, in fact if he looked closely he could have sworn that the moisture on her face wasn't sweat, but tears. Maybe… maybe she would appreciate it if he shared his drugs with her? Yeah, that would put a smile on her face. And then, if he did decide to kill her, he could give her an overdose to make it easier. Yeah. Drug her. He arose from the floor and stepped over her prone body.

"Back in a minute sweetheart. I'm going to get you a present."

Mark locked the door behind him and Lauren rolled over as she listened to his footsteps heading down the hall. Idiot had forgotten to check if she had her cell with her. Thrusting her hand into her jeans, she extracted her cell, flicked it open and switched it on. Battery? Yes, she had plenty of battery. She couldn't believe this was going to be so simple. Scrolling through the menus she found Horatio's name and dialled it before holding it to her ear to hear the sweet dialling tones that would get her out of here.

"_I'm sorry, you have insufficient credit to make a call. Please make a top-up and try again."_

Lauren punched to floor in frustration. Of all the days she would run out of credit, it would be this one. Why did she have a bloody pay-as-you-go cell? What use was it now, in this situation? She nearly threw her phone at the opposite wall in anger but she stopped herself, hoping that Horatio would have realised what had happened and would be calling her at any moment. She didn't expect it to ring only moment later showing a number she didn't recognise. Covering her mouth with her hand should Mark come back and hear her talking, she answered.

"Please help me."

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**Who was it that called her? It could be obvious but it could also not be. I'm not going to say. If you want to you can guess who it was in your review, because you ARE going to review. You know you are.**

**Peace out.**

**XXLollyXX**


	12. Final Chapter

**Guess what? FINAL CHAPTER! It's all here and I'm probably more exicted than all of you guys.**

**Disclaimer: Here's some facts: 1. Horatio Caine rocks. 2. Mac Taylor is the most macho guy on T.V. 3. I DON'T OWN CSI MIAMI!!!**

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"Lauren? What's up? I've been trying to ring you for ages!"

Emma's voice sounded concerned. Hearing someone answer the phone by saying "Please help me" would most probably worry anyone.

"Emma? Is that you?"

"Yeah I got a new phone, remember? Sorry I didn't give you the number yet. Why are you whispering?"

Lauren knew she would only have a limited time to explain. Her best friend wasn't an amazing listener at the best of times because she much preferred to talk. She considered her choice of words carefully.

"Emz, listen. Call Horatio. Tell him I'm with a guy called Mark West in his apartment. I don't know where."

"What the hell are you on girl? Are you playing some kind of trick on me?"

"I'm serious. Emma please bring it upon yourself to do me a favour and call Horatio right away. You have his number, right?"

"I think Jackie does…"

"Good."

"Are you gonna tell me what's going on?"

Lauren paused. She didn't want to explain in too many words what was happening because she knew her friend would worry like hell. Emma would probably be more traumatized than Lauren because she was such an innocent soul. Lauren hadn't yet told anyone other than Horatio about her stalker.

"I'll tell you later, I promise. I gotta go. Remember, Mark West's apartment."

"Who's Mark?"

"Goodbye Emma."

Lauren hurriedly ended the call and switched her phone to silent. She knew all about GPS from Horatio and she wished hard that they would be able to find her if she could keep her phone on long enough. _Can I wait that long? Do I have that much time left? _She could already hear the sounds of Mark returning with his 'present'. Pangs of fear returned as she grudgingly lay back down on the floor ready once more to face the horrifying music.

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Eric's stomach did a backflip followed by a somersault when the screen changed.

_GPS located._

His knowledge as a CSI told him that her being cell had been turned on meant someone if not Lauren had cared enough to help Delko with the first clue to finding her.

He double clicked on the box and the image on the screen zoomed in gradually over a map of Miami, settling on a block of apartments in Coral Terrace. _At least Horatio and Tripp are in the right area. _A small red triangle was flashing over a specific building and next to it popped up a box with the address and tenants of the building. Eric's eyes blurred as he read the names of each one.

"There! Mark West!"

He copied down the guy's apartment number and street in his notebook and speed-dialled Horatio with his cell. It was busy.

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"Mark West?"

"Yeah, she was being really cryptic about it. Whispering an' all. I thought she was home with you 'cause I was there when she was dropped off."

"She never made it inside the door."

"What?!"

He regretted it the moment he had said it. Now wasn't the best time to explain to a teenage girl that her best friend had been kidnapped, especially because Horatio had been pointing a gun at the head of the occupant of the house when his cell began to ring. Tripp was currently searching the man's house for information linking him to the kidnapping.

"Emma, tell me what she said in her exact words."

"I can't remember it exactly…"

"Do your best."

"Well, she said something about being at Mark West's apartment, but she doesn't know where it is. Why wouldn't she know where it was? Her sense of direction is better than mine…"

Horatio was beginning to get slightly impatient. He waved at Frank to get his attention and motioned to him to come nearer. Holding a finger over the speaker, he lowered his voice and muttered,

"Lauren made contact with Emma. She said she was at Mark West's apartment."

"Well that doesn't help us. We already know the guy's name. What we need to know is where this apartment is."

Horatio nodded and listened again to Emma's prattling.

"… because she's always like that. Always. And then she told me to phone you. So I did. That's what I'm doing now. Uh… Horatio?"

"Yes?"

"Good. You're still listening. I gotta ask, is Lauren in trouble? Is she gonna get hurt?"

He turned to look out of the window at the golden sunset through the trees.

"Not if I can help it."

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Eric gave up trying to get through to Horatio and rang Tripp instead. It rang six times before the Homicide Detective answered.

"What's the news, Delko?"

"I got a GPS signal. Lauren's phone's been located in Mark West's apartment in the Terrace."

Frank cross-referenced the address with the ones on the list in his hand. The one Lauren was being held at was only half a mile from here. He thanked Delko for the information and tapped Horatio on the shoulder.

"We have a location. Let's roll."

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Mark snuck back into the room, his head hanging in defeat. He had forgotten that he had used up the last of the heroin and now he had nothing to give her. He leaned against the wall and breathed in deeply. _What else can I give her? _Wait a minute… a few hours ago he had intended to kill her. What had changed his mind since then? He chuckled when an answer came to him… _the heroin._ If anything would change his mind, that would. But that hadn't been the answer he had been seeking.

What was stopping him from killing her now? She was lying on the floor, practically waiting for him to start. _So compliant. _He didn't have to kill her right away. There was always time for some fun first.

He bent over her body and pulled her hair back from her face. Her eyes were staring dead ahead, unfocused and hazy. _Weird. _He took hold of her chin and moved her face so she could look at him but she only looked straight through him, her lips trembling and her chest rising and falling with each shaky breath. She was certainly alive but she seemed as though she was not entirely there. Not that it mattered to him. He unfastened the first few buttons of her blouse and ran his fingers over the lace in her bra. Still, he got no reaction. Maybe it was better this way.

No words were exchanged between them as Mark removed more items of Lauren's clothing. Her shoes, her socks and the whole of her blouse were done away with and thrown to a corner of the room. At first, he would only touch her skin and feel its smoothness under his fingers but he soon progressed to much more intimate actions. For the second time that day, he went to kiss her and the degree of reaction changed dramatically from his first attempt. Their lips had met for a just few seconds when Lauren twisted her head away from the embrace and blinked tears from her eyes.

_I'm not strong enough to keep this up. Where is Horatio? _She winced as he unzipped her pants and pulled them down past her knees, past her ankles and pulled them off completely. Mark lifted his leg over her body and sat down on top of her hips, his weight crushing her from above. Risking a glance at his face, Lauren could see the hunger and madness in his eyes and he unfastened his belt and withdrew it from the loops. He wrapped it slowly around his left fist and held the other end in his right hand.

_He's going to rape me. Horatio? Why aren't you here? I don't want to lose my virginity this way._

The door to the room crashed open making Mark temporarily look up from his victim. Seizing her opportunity, Lauren sat up and punched him in the gut rendering him breathless but it wasn't enough to force him off of her. Mark reacted faster than a snake and looped his belt around Lauren's neck, pulling it tight and crushing her windpipe.

"Don't come near me or I'll strangle her!" he shouted.

Through her clouding vision, Lauren could see the barrel of a gun held firmly in front of a pair of sunglasses.

"Let go of the belt Mark. It's over."

"I'll kill her! I swear!"

Horatio coolly aimed his gun at the man's torso and weighed his options. Lauren was losing consciousness fast and if Mark didn't loosen his grip she would be dead before Horatio could wrestle the belt from him. He decided to issue one last ultimatum.

"Last chance Mark."

Still, he wouldn't let go. As Lauren fainted from lack of oxygen, Horatio fired two shots in quick succession at her captor. The bullets hit him just above the heart and blood sprayed from his wounds across the room and floor. Securing his gun, Horatio kicked Mark's limp body which fell backwards and pulled Lauren with him, his hand still clamped around his end of the belt in a death grip. Horatio was forced to unwrap it layer by layer from her neck to free her and give her the chance to breathe again.

The reality of the situation hit him and he wept as he picked up his niece and cradled her in his arms. He had nearly lost his only remaining family member and nothing was going to separate them now. He stroked and kissed her hair as Tripp stood behind him and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Is she okay?"

Lauren blinked and opened her eyes to see her uncle's face still covered by his sunglasses. _Typical. _She delicately slid them down his nose and held them close to her chest to prove to herself he really was there. It was hard to speak, but she made the effort to let him know she was okay.

"Thank you H."

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**SQUEEEE!!!!!! I love Horatio Caine! Is that obvious? **

**Go ahead and either review this chapter or the story as a whole, tell me what you think cos I really wanna know... "Who are you? Who? Who?" Sorry, lapsed into CSI:LV theme tune there.**

**Please review!**

**XXLollyXX**


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